Method and device for accepting articles in the form of sheet-type material

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for accepting sheet material, in particular papers of value such as bank notes, checks, etc., whereby different groups of sheet material are successively accepted and stored. 
     In a known method and corresponding apparatus for accepting groups of sheet material such as bank notes, the bank notes coming from a deliverer are checked and stored in a storage container in the order of their input. Thus it is not always recognizable without doubt subsequently, e.g. in cases of malfunction, which deliverer certain bank notes come from. 
     The present invention starts out from the consideration that each group of sheet material is assigned at least one separation means and the separation means are stored at least partly together with the associated group of sheet material for separating the associated group of sheet material from other groups of sheet material.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for acceptingsheet material, in particular documents of value such as bank notes,checks, etc., whereby different groups of sheet material aresuccessively accepted and stored.

In a known method and corresponding apparatus for accepting sheetmaterial such as bank notes, it is provided that a deliverer inputs agroup of bank notes, hereinafter called a delivery, into a correspondingapparatus for acceptance. Additionally, the deliverer must identifyhimself, for example by using a check card whose data, e.g. accountnumber, are read. The corresponding account number is then credited withthe bank notes inputted for acceptance. For this purpose the bank notesare checked for example as to authenticity and denomination in order todetermine the total sum of bank notes inputted for acceptance. Thechecked bank notes are then transported by the apparatus to a storagecontainer and kept there. The bank notes are stored in the storagecontainer in the order of their input.

However, the known method and corresponding apparatus have disadvantagesin several respects. One problem is for example the use of a check cardfor identification. When e.g. an employee brings the delivery to a bankoperating a corresponding apparatus, he must carry the account holder'scheck card with him to perform identification successfully. This resultsin certain risks, on the one hand, and if different employees makedeliveries it is problematic to equip each of the employees with acorresponding check card, on the other hand. Further problems can ariseupon acceptance of the delivery in the apparatus if there aremalfunctions during transport of the bank notes within the apparatusthat cause a change in their order, or there are errors during the checkof the bank notes. In such cases it is not readily possible to assignthe problematic, e.g. forged, bank notes to the actual deliverer. Thismakes it difficult or impossible to check the individual deliveriessubsequently.

SUMMARY

It is therefore the problem of the present invention to state a methodand apparatus for accepting sheet material, in particular documents ofvalue such as bank notes, checks, etc., whereby different groups ofsheet material are successively accepted and stored, that simplifies andfacilitates operation for deliverers, on the one hand, and permits animproved subsequent check of individual deliveries, on the other hand.

For accepting different groups of sheet material consisting of at leastone piece of sheet material, in particular documents of value such asbank notes, checks, etc., that are successively accepted and stored, theinvention starts out from the consideration that each group of sheetmaterial is assigned at least one separator referred herein as aseparation means and the separation means are stored at least partlytogether with the associated group of sheet material for separating theassociated group of sheet material from other groups of sheet material.

The advantage of the invention is in particular in that the proposed useof separation means is suitable for guaranteeing the assignability ofeach group of sheet material to a deliverer.

In an advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the separation meanshave information or are provided with information. Evaluation of theinformation guarantees for example the unique assignability of eachgroup of sheet material to a deliverer. Evaluation of the information ofthe separation means permits this even without the use of specialidentification means, e.g. a check card, by the deliverer.

In a further advantageous embodiment, it is provided that additionalseparation means are produced to be stored together with the sheetmaterial of each group of sheet material. The use of additionalseparation means allows better processing of sheet material since theadditional separation means allow the individual groups of sheetmaterial to be exactly subdivided, for example to separate forged orpossibly forged sheet material from other sheet material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To facilitate understanding, only the elements that are of importance inconnection with the present invention will be described hereinafter.

FIG. 1 a shows a schematic first embodiment of an apparatus foraccepting different groups of sheet material,

FIG. 1 b shows a schematic second embodiment of an apparatus foraccepting different groups of sheet material,

FIG. 2 a shows a first embodiment of separation means for a group ofsheet material with an inserted group of sheet material,

FIG. 2 b shows the first embodiment of separation means for a group ofsheet material without sheet material,

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of separation means for a group ofsheet material with an inserted group of sheet material,

FIG. 4 shows an arrangement of a plurality of groups of sheet materialwith associated separation means,

FIG. 5 shows a first embodiment of separation means for detectinginformation for a group of sheet material,

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of separation means for detectinginformation for a group of sheet material, and

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of separation means for detectinginformation for a group of sheet material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following the acceptance of different groups of sheet materialwill be described by way of example with reference to the acceptance ofdifferent groups of bank notes, hereinafter called deliveries. Otherpapers of value such as checks, etc., can be processed in the same way.The different deliveries are separated by a separator referred to hereinas a separation means, for example separation cards. A bank noteaccepting machine is used for processing the different deliveries.

FIG. 1 a shows a schematic first embodiment of bank note acceptingmachine 100 for accepting different groups of sheet material.

A deliverer has inserted delivery E3 into input 110. Sheet material ofdelivery E3 consists of documents of value including bank notes BN3 andseparation card TK3 and is transferred individually by singler 111 totransport system 120 that guides the sheet material through sensordevice 112 connected with control device 140. By means of its sensors,sensor device 112 derives data from the sheet material that areevaluated by control device 140. Evaluation can be dispensed with in thesimplest case, or only a count of sheet material is performed. However,evaluation can also include a check for authenticity and type of sheetmaterial, e.g. authenticity and denomination of bank notes. In the sameway, sensor device 112 and control device 140 can detect informationapplied to separation card TK3. Then the sheet material is stored instorage container 130.

The data of bank notes BN3 determined during the check and theinformation of separation card TK3 are stored in a memory of controldevice 140. The data of the check can also be transferred to separationcard TK3, for example in sensor device 112. The data are related withthe check of bank notes BN3, for example their number, type (currency,denomination), total sum, etc. For this purpose, separation card TK3must constitute the last piece of sheet material in delivery E3, asshown. Likewise, it is possible that a separation card is disposed asthe first piece of sheet material or at any place in a delivery, inwhich case an additional device (not shown) must be used in which thecard can be temporarily stored until the total deposit has beenprocessed. For example, it can be provided that the card is returned toinput 110 after running through sensor device 112 to be able to beprocessed again. In the example of FIG. 1, two deliveries E1 and E2 havealready been accepted. Bank notes BN1 and BN2 and separation cards TK1and TK2 are accordingly stacked in storage container 130, card TK1separating first delivery E1 from second delivery E2, and second cardTK2 separating second delivery E2 from delivery E3 to be processedsubsequently.

All functions of bank note accepting machine 100 are controlled bycontrol device 140, for example a microcomputer. The deliverer cancontrol the acceptance process by means of input/output device 150,which contains for example a printer and/or a display and/or a keyboardand/or a touch screen and/or a card reader, or the deliverer is informedabout the acceptance process by accepting machine 100. Theabovementioned information of separation card TK3 that is detected bysensor device 112 and processed by control device 140 can contain notonly accounting data such as the deliverer's account number, type andnumber of bank notes of the delivery, etc., but also instructions foraccepting machine 100. Such instructions may include for example aspecial processing mode in which accepting machine 100 works in a wayespecially suitable for the particular deliverer. Such processing modescan be different for example for the delivery of checks or bank notes.Further, an operating mode can be provided in which separation card TK3is not stored in storage container 130 but returned to the deliverer.This operating mode will be explained in more detail below.

Sheet material that was not recognizable during the check by controldevice 140 or caused problems, e.g. due to simultaneous removal of aplurality of pieces of sheet material by singler 111, can be returned tothe deliverer. For this purpose, diverter 122, which is part oftransport system 120, is actuated by controller 140 and nonrecognizedsheet material is outputted to output 135. Instead of separate output135, input 110 can also be used if nonrecognized sheet material isreturned, as described above for the separation card. For separation aseparation element, for example a plate or finger, must then be placedon delivery E3 after the onset of processing so that returned sheetmaterial is separated from the rest of the delivery. It is also possibleto perform one or more reruns for nonrecognized sheet material to reducethe number of nonrecognized sheet material. Nonrecognized sheet materialis thus taken from output 135 and reinserted into input 110 or theseparation element is removed. To achieve the above-described separationfunction of separation cards TK for individual deliveries E in case ofreruns, the order of deliveries E, in particular the position of cardsTK at the beginning and/or end, must be retained. Separation cards TKcan thus be guided into input 110, as described above, to be singledagain at the end of processing.

To retain the order of sheet material, in particular bank notes BN andseparation cards TK, of individual deliveries, the abovementioned buffer(not shown) for bank notes BN and/or a further buffer (not shown) forseparation card TK can also be provided in which bank notes BN or cardTK of delivery E are placed during the check. Only after the end ofprocessing, bank notes BN and card TK are removed from the buffer orbuffers and transferred to storage container 130. If one or more buffersare used, it can also be provided that card TK is inserted into one ofthe buffers by the deliverer at the outset of processing, separatelyfrom the bank notes of the delivery. The corresponding buffer canfurthermore have a sensor that detects information applied to separationcard TK in the same way as sensor device 112.

As indicated above, separation cards TK can be disposed at the beginningor end of the particular delivery. Likewise, it is possible to provide aseparation card at both the beginning and the end of the particulardelivery. Using separation cards within a delivery can obtain furtherdivisions, which will be explained in more detail below in connectionwith FIG. 4.

FIG. 1 b shows a schematic second embodiment of bank note acceptingmachine 100 for accepting different groups of sheet material. The secondembodiment shown in FIG. 1 b corresponds substantially to theabove-described first embodiment according to FIG. 1 a in design andfunction.

Bank note accepting machine 100 additionally has second storagecontainer 131, diverter 121 controlled by control device 140 forswitching transport system 120 from first storage container 130 tosecond storage container 131, and device 160 controlled by controldevice 140 for producing additional separation cards TK′, TK″.

Additional separation cards TK′, TK″ are used for, among other things,preserving the findings obtained during the check of bank notes topermit a later, simple analysis of the content of storage container 130or 131. In the shown example, first delivery E1 has been processed andbank notes BN1 stored together with separation card TK1 in storagecontainer 130. Second, likewise processed delivery E2 contained banknote BN2′ that was not accepted during the check, e.g. because it is aforgery or suspected forgery or because it involves a multiple removal.Bank note BN2′ is therefore stored in second storage container 131,which is provided in this example for unaccepted bank notes. Remainingbank notes BN2 accepted during the check are stored in first storagecontainer 130. For separating bank notes BN2 and BN2′, device 160 forproducing additional separation cards has produced separation cardsTK2″, TK2′ and transport system 120 has transferred them to first andsecond storage containers 130, 131, where they delimit bank notes BN2,BN2′ from bank notes of following delivery E3. Separation card TK2,which was originally inputted to input 110 together with bank notes BN2by the deliverer, is returned to the deliverer in this example.Separation card TK2 is thus transported to output 135 by transportsystem 120, by actuation of diverters 121 and 122 by control device 140.Separation card TK2 can have information that, as described above, isapplied in sensor device 112 and can comprise the result of acceptanceof the delivery, in particular information that bank note BN2′ isprobably a forged bank note. However, separation card TK2 can also bereused for a later delivery. If separation card TK2 is not returned tothe deliverer, it is used for separation in one of storage containers130, 131, so that separation card TK2″ or TK2′ does not have to beproduced by device 160. Information about the check of the bank notesand the information about deliverer, etc., contained on separation cardTK2 are likewise applied to separation cards TK2′ and TK2″ so that thebank notes separated by them can be analyzed and assigned later.

The use of additional separation card producing device 160, which canalso be disposed at another place in transport system 120, also makes itfundamentally possible for a delivery to be inserted into input 110without a separation card. The deliverer must then identify himself e.g.by inputting his account number by means of input/output device 150 orby using a check card. The separation cards required for separating thedeposits in storage container 130 and/or 131 are then produced by device160, in dependence on the check.

If only first storage container 130 is used, additional separation cardsTK′, TK″ can likewise be used. These are then added accordingly betweenthe bank notes of the deposit. For example, it can be provided thatadditional separation card TK′ is always produced when a forged banknote is recognized. Separation card TK′ is then placed and stored instorage container 130 over or under the forged bank note to permit thisbank note to be clearly identified later.

Likewise, it is possible to use further storage containers to permit thebank notes of a delivery to be stored for example in singledenominations and/or currencies. All bank notes of one denominationand/or all bank notes of one currency are thus stored in a storagecontainer in each case. Separation cards must accordingly be producedfor each of the storage containers in which bank notes of a delivery arestored to permit the bank notes of the particular delivery to bedelimited from bank notes of previous and/or following deliveries.

There are a number of ways for the deliverer to provide delivery data onthe separation cards in the form of information for processing with banknote accepting machine 100.

A first approach is for the deliverer to prepare a voucher that can beused as a separation card. This can be done using special programs bywhich the deliverer detects the data of his delivery and enters them inthe books and the program automatically performs a data transfer withthe detected data to the service provider, e.g. over the Internet orother telecommunication routes, and an accompanying slip is printed atthe deliverer's that is enclosed in the delivery and can be useddirectly as a machine-readable separation card during bank noteprocessing.

In this case the embodiment of a separation card with electronic coding,e.g. an embedded chip and transponder, is of particular advantage. Theinformation applied by the deliverer (e.g. deliverer identification,delivery identification, total nominal value, number of bank notes perdenomination, account number, bank code number, etc.) can be read in itstotality or as a subset by the bank note accepting machine and adoptedfor processing. This method has the advantage that preparatory work onbank note accepting machine 100 is unnecessary.

In another variant, the deliverer can for example fill in fields on apreprinted separation card or check them off (in the manner of a lottocoupon) to mark the value of his delivery or the number of bank notes ofthe particular denominations. Such a separation card is shown in FIG. 5.Separation card TK has fields for each denomination. For denomination“five” 42 there are fields 41 for the numbers from “zero” to “nine” thatare weighted with multiplier “one” 44 and a multiplier “ten”. In theshown example there are 86 bank notes of the denomination “five.”Further field 45 can contain data that e.g. identify the deliverer.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show further embodiments of separation cards. Separationcards TK are formed in the shown cases as containers, in particularenvelopes or covers of paper, paperboard or cardboard.

As shown in FIG. 2 a, bank notes BN of a delivery are inserted into theenvelope. Envelope TK moreover has gap 11 that singler 111 can engage toremove sheet material individually out of the opening of the envelope.When the total sheet material is removed, as shown in FIG. 2 b, singler111 grasps the envelope on the side of the envelope opposite gap 11.

A variant of container or envelope TK is shown in FIG. 3. Envelope TK isequipped with closure means 14 that are closed after insertion of adelivery into envelope TK. The delivery can thus be transported safefrom access by means of envelope TK. For processing in bank noteaccepting machine 100 it can be provided that a cutting tool is disposedin singler 111 for first checking the integrity of closure means 14 andthen opening closure means 14 of envelopes TK to begin singling. Thecutting tool can cut open closure means 14 for example along line 15shown in FIG. 3. But closure means 14 can also be completely removed bythe cutting tool, e.g. along line 16.

In a special embodiment, containers or envelopes TK can be designed soas to carry information that can be read by machine, so that for exampledata fields 12 and/or 13 can be present on one or both sides of envelopeTK. Closure means 14 can also have data fields having the sameinformation as associated envelopes TK Then it is possible for closuremeans 14 to be also used in bank note accepting machine 100 and storedin storage container or containers 130, 131 together with the bank notesto make the bank notes assignable to the particular deliveries. Closuremeans 14 can thus be automatically taken into account and transported bybank note accepting machine 100. It is thus possible to separate bothaccepted bank notes and unaccepted bank notes of individual deliveriesby envelopes TK or closure means 14.

With reference to the structure of groups of sheet material ordeliveries shown in FIG. 4, further functions of the separation meansshall be described in more detail. FIG. 4 shows first delivery E1consisting of separation means TK1, bank notes BN1 to BN6 as well asfurther separation means TK1′ located between bank notes BN2 and BN3,and second delivery E2 consisting of separation means TK2, bank notesBN7 to BN12 as well as two further separation means TK2′ and TK2″. Lastbank note BN12 can be followed by further deliveries, as indicated by adotted line in FIG. 4.

Separation means TK1 and TK2 can be formed as separation cards, as shownin FIG. 4, or as containers, as described above in connection with FIGS.2 and 3. Separation means TK1 and TK2 are recognized by sensor device112 with reference to specific properties, as described. They canmoreover have information that can be used for identifying deliveries.Further separation means TK′, TK″ are formed as separation cards. In thesimplest case, further separation means TK′, TK″ are constituted by partof the sheet material itself. For example, the serial number of a banknote can be used for unique identification. The serial number is thenassigned the corresponding data, such as deliverer, deposited amount,etc., stated on separation card TK for processing in controller 140 ofbank note accepting machine 100.

As shown in FIG. 4, further separation means TK′, TK″ can be disposed atany places within particular delivery E, after separation means TK. Infirst delivery E1, separation means TK1′ is located for example afterseparation means TK1 and bank notes BN1 and BN2. In second delivery E2,further separation means TK2′ are located immediately after separationmeans TK2 and further separation means TK2″ between bank notes BN9 andBN10. The use of further separation means TK′, TK″ within deliveries Ethus also permits the formation of subgroups of bank notes BN1 to BN2,BN3 to BN6, BN7 to BN9 and BN10 to BN12. Said subgroups within thedeliveries can correspond for example to individual cash registers of asupermarket.

In the following, different possibilities for coding and evaluatingseparation means will be described, said separation means always beingreferred to as separation cards for simplicity's sake.

Separation cards can be provided with information. This information canbe an identification code that permits an indirect link with the data ofthe delivery held in another system. This identification code can bepreviously printed, or prepared during preparation with the aid of anapparatus for coding separation cards. Additionally or alternatively,the separation card can contain direct information about the delivery(customer's name, nominal value, number of bank notes separatedaccording to denomination, etc.) and be used as a receipt forsettlement. This information can be applied in the form of amachine-readable bar code, as information on a magnetic stripe or in theform of machine-readable character sets (OCR font). It is prepared bythe deliverer himself, as described above, or made available and sente.g. by mail or the Internet by a central office, e.g. the bankoperating the bank note accepting machine.

Further possibilities for individual identification of the separationcard include machine-readable information that establishes a uniquerelation to a delivery e.g. by means of a two-dimensional bar code. Thispermits either the amount of information to be distinctly increased orthe information to be coded so that it can also be read by a sensordevice with low resolution. Separation card TK with such atwo-dimensional bar code is shown in FIG. 6. To permitposition-independent evaluation of two-dimensional bar code 52,orientation marks 51, 53, 54 are provided. Further separation card TKwith a two-dimensional data block matrix is shown in FIG. 7. Separationcard 60 likewise has orientation features 61, 62, 63. The information iscontained in the two-dimensional data block matrix having a plurality ofdata blocks 64 to 65. Between individual data blocks 64 to 65 there canbe magnetic or electroconductive stripes that allow recognition even inthe case of concealment by multiple removal. Further information, e.g.in plaintext, can be contained in additional field 66.

Another possibility for applying and reading information on a separationcard is to use optical codings as are common for example in compactdiscs. This technology permits a very great amount of information to beapplied to a very small area and read optically, for example with alaser.

A further possibility for applying and reading information on aseparation card is to use methods with place- and/or intensity-dependentfeatures on the separation card. For example, the arrangement and sizeof conductive elements on the separation card can be used for individualcoding of separation cards. This method can be expanded if theseelements have different states of conductivity and the value ofconductivity is detected and evaluated by a corresponding evaluationmethod. A similar method can be performed with the aid of magneticelements.

A further possibility is to use optically visible prints that differclearly in form, arrangement, intensity and spectral property (color)and thus allow individual identification.

A very advantageous embodiment of the separation card results from usinga chip embedded on the separation card with a transponder. Thetransponder is applied to the separation card in the form of a coil orantenna and connected with a chip embedded in the separation card. Thiscoil or antenna is used firstly to feed in energy for the power supplyof the embedded chip, secondly for data transfer to the chip (writinginformation), thirdly for data transfer of information stored on thechip (reading information), and fourthly for reliable recognition of thepresence of a separation card according to the above explanations. Thechip is a component that can store and/or process information. Thisembodiment results in a number of advantageous features for a separationcard application, since many times more information can be stored inthis way than for example in information based on a bar code or an OCRfont. In addition, the method allows writing access to the informationof the separation card and thus for example the addition of informationin bank note accepting machine 100. In a first step, information aboutthe deliverer, the nominal amount of the bank note value or the nominalnumber of the particular denominations as well as identificationinformation can be written for example during preparation of processing.During machine processing, this information is read completely or partlyby bank note accepting machine 100 and in a further step supplemented bywriting access in bank note accepting machine 100 by further processingdata, for example the particular number of bank notes recognized asauthentic in terms of value and stacked.

This method has the further advantage that the information is also readand written if the separation card is masked by bank notes in certaincases.

1. A method for accepting documents of value wherein different groups ofdocuments of value are successively accepted and stored, and wherein thedifferent groups of documents of value each consist of at least onedocument of value, and the different groups of documents of value arestored in a storage container in an apparatus, the method comprising thesteps of: generating in the apparatus at least one separator stored bythe apparatus and used to separate the documents of value; assigningeach group of documents of value to the separator before or duringprocessing of the documents of value by the apparatus; transferring theseparator, at least partly, together with an associated group ofdocuments of value to the storage container; and separating theassociated group of the documents of value in the storage container fromother groups of the documents of value with the separator.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the documents of value of each groupthereof are checked before storage, for authenticity, value and number.3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the separator is assigned toeach group of the documents of value at the beginning thereof.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein, the separator is assigned to eachgroup of the documents of value at the end thereof.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the separator is assigned to each group ofthe documents of value at the beginning and end thereof.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one additional separator isassigned within a group of the documents of value, thereby formingsubgroups of the documents of value.
 7. The method according to claim 1,wherein the separator is provided with information before and/or duringacceptance of the associated group of the documents of value.
 8. Themethod according to claim 2, wherein the separator is provided withinformation during and/or after the check of the documents of value ofthe associated group thereof.
 9. The method according to claim 7,wherein the information comprises statements about deliverer and/or typeand/or composition of the documents of value and/or the manner ofprocessing of the documents of value of the respective associated groupthereof.
 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the information,or parts thereof, contained on the separator is detected and taken intoconsideration during the acceptance and/or check and/or storage of therespective associated group of the documents of value.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one additional separator isprovided and placed in the storage container.
 12. The method accordingto claim 2, wherein at least one further storage container is providedfor storing the groups of the documents of value.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the documents of value of each group ofthe documents of value stored in the further storage container isseparated by the separator.
 14. The method according to claim 11,wherein the documents of value of each group thereof stored in thefurther storage container are separated by the at least one additionalseparator.